Apparatus for making truncated conical tubes



June 8, 1937.

D. WOOD ET AL APPARATUS FOR MAKING TRUNCATED cbNI AL TUBES Filed Aug.25, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 8 1937. D. WOOD ET AL APPARATUS FORMAKING TRUNCATED CONICAL TUBES Filed Aug. '25, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 2Linwrzfor June 8, 1937. D. wool: El AL 2,083,210

APPARATUS FOR MAKING TRUNCATED GONICAL TUBES Filed Aug 25, 1936 4Sheets-Sheet 3 APPARATUS FOR MAKING T RUNCATED OONICAL TUBES Filed Au25, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ing edges.

Patented June 1937 APPARATUS Dennis "non MAKING TRUNCATED CONICAL runesWood, Manchester, and Alfred German Rose, Gainsborough, EnglandApplication August 25, 1936, Serial No. 97,848 In Great Britain August29, 1935 8 Claims.

This invention 'relates to mechanism for making truncated conical tubesfrom sheets of cardboard or other material, hereinafter termed blankseach of which has a pair of converg- This invention is concerned withmechanism of the kind comprising a conical former, conveying mechanismfor conveying a blank from the receiving station in which the blanks arefed into the mechanism to a blank-applying station where the blank islocated adjacent the former, means for moving the blankinto contact withthe former, and means for wrapping" the blank about the former into atruncated conical tube. Usually a plurality 'of formers is provided, andthe formers are arranged radially and are moved as a set intermittentlyso that each pauses in turn at the blank-applying station to permit of ablank being applied to it. The converging edges of the blank, are joinedtogether after it has been wrapped round the former in any suit: ablemanner, for example by means of gum apthe applying station,"

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved form ofconveying mechanism v incorporating means for ensuring that the blank isaccurately applied to the former.

According to the present invention there is Y provided in or formechanism of the kind set out above conveying mechanism ,which comprisesa turntable on to which the blank is fed at the receiving station andwhich has a pair of guides on its upper surface that'converge towardsthe centre of the table, the blank being received belocate it accuratelyon the table since the locat- I ing means will accurately locate theblank on the table and the latter will be accurately positioned by thetable at the applying station.

Preferably the guides are formed by the converging sides of ashallowrecess or tray in the surface of the table. A plurality of pairsof guides may be provided and be so spaced plied to the blank while itis being conveyed to apart that one pair is located at each of the threestations each time the turntable pauses in its motion. 7

Locating means may comprise a finger or fingers movable in a verticalplane more or less radial to the table to engage the outer edge of theblank and move ittowards the centre of the table.

Where the edges of the blank are secured togather by adhesiveafterbeing' wrapped round the former, there may, iniaccordance with thefeature of this invention, be provided a gum-apply- I ure 2,

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig:

Figure 5 is a detailed end elevation of gumapplying means in themechanism, and

Figure 6 is a side elevation of the gum-applying means. I The inventionis shown in the drawings as applied to a known type of tube-makingmachine. Since the invention is not concerned with the actualtube-making mechanism only as much of this mechanism as is necessary forthe understanding of the invention is described.

- The mechanism comprises a former-wheel 8 and a turntable 9. Theformer-wheel 8 carries eight formers III which are arranged radially.The wheel 8 has an integral boss ll which is keyed on to a shaft l3. Theshaft I3 is supported in a bearing l5 carried by a. table 16. A gearwheel I! is keyed on to the bottom of the shaft l3 and meshes with agear wheel l8 keyed to a shaft l9. This shaft is supported ina bearing20 and the table 9 is keyed to its upper end. The shaft I9 is driven bya Geneva mechanism from -a shaft 25 which is driven continuously. Theshaft 25 carries an arm 24 on the end of which is a roller 23. As'theshaft 25 rotates, the roller 23 enters one of four slots I33 in a Genevamember 33 and drives the shaft l9 through a quarter 'of a revolutionwhile the shaft 25 itself is tuming through one quarter of'therevolution. During the remaining three-quarters of each revolution ofthe shaft 25, the shaft l9 remains-sta- The shaft 25 is supported in abearing 25 andv has a bevel wheel '28 secured at its upper end. Thisbevel wheel meshes with the bevel wheel 32 secured to the main drivingshaft 29. The shaft 29 is supported in bearing brackets 35, 5|

and carries cams for actuating various mechanism to be describedhereinafter.

The upper surface of the turntable 9 is provided with four equallyspaced shallow recesses or trays 36. Each tray has two converging sides31 which constitute guides for a blank, as will be described hereinafterand a curved side 35. The fourth and outer side of the tray is open sothat a blank 39 can be fed into one of the trays from a feed counter 38.As the table 8 rotates intermittently in a clockwise direction, eachtray pauses successively first in a receiving station in which it isopposite the counter 38, then in a locating station,.next in an applyingstation in which the tray is below one of the formers I5 and finally ina fourthstation.

At the receiving station a blank is fed on to a tray either by hand orby some convenient conveying mechanism. The. turntable then turnsthrough a quarter revolution-so that the tray and the blank are movedround to the locating station. At this station the blank is movedinwardly of the table so that its converging edges engage the guides 31and locate the blank in a definite position on the table. This iseffected by locating means comprising a pair of fingers 45 formedintegrally with a bell crank lever 4| (Figure 1) which is pivoted on aspindle 42 carried by an extension of the bearingbracket 3|l The bellcrank 4| has a roller 43 co-operating with a cam 45 44 secured to thedriving shaft 29. The lever 4| is rocked clockwise (as seen in Figure 1)by a suitable spring I so as to hold the roller 43 against the cam 44.While the rise of the cam 44 is engaging the roller, the fingers 45 willbe heldaway from the turntable 9 and the latter will be rotating. Itshould be mentioned that the shaft 29 turns through one revolution percycle of the mechanism. After the turntable has come to rest, the cam 44permits. the spring to rock the 5 lever 4| clockwise so that the fingers45 move into slots 45 (see Figure 3) in the turntable and engage theouter arcuate edge ofthe blank 89 and move the blank inwardly of theturntable.-

supported by the table IS. The lower end of the bearing tube 52 isformed with an arm. 54 (Figures 2 and 3) carrying a collar 55 sliding ona vertical column the tube 52 and the 75 parts supported by it "cannotrotate about the which is mounted to slide on a vertical column 53column 53. Gum is-supplied to the inside of the tube 5| by means of aflexible hose 58 from a suitable reservoir. Thetube 5| is formed with adepending'portion 51 which is hollow and which has an elongated slot onits lower surface. A strip of felt or other absorbent material 55 isinserted in this slot and will be impregnated with gum supplied throughthe tube 5|. The bearing tube 52, rests on a shoe 5'! formed on the endof a bell crank lever 55 that is pivoted at 55, on the bracket 38. Thelever 55 carries a roller 59 engaging a cam III on the shaft 29.Normally the rise of the cam 15 co-operates with the roller 59 to holdthe lever 55 displaced clockwise from the position shown in Figure 1.The lever 55 in turn lifts the bearing sleeve 52 so that the partscarried by this sleeve will be in the position shown. in Figure 5 withthe pad 58 raised above the level of the table 9. After the blank hasbeen located at the locating station, the cam 18 permits the arm 65 torock counter-clockwise so that the parts supported by this arm arelowered under their own weight and the felt pad 58 engages the surfaceof a blank and applies a line of adhesive to it as shown at H in Figure3. Before the table moves again, the cam 15 rocks the lever 55 clockwiseand raises the gum-applying mechanism above the table.

There is a possibility that the blank might stick to the pad 58 and belifted from the table. This is prevented in the following manner. Thetube 5| carries a pair of bearings 55 (Figures 5 and 6) in which slidespindles 5| These spindles are secured at their lower end to a foot 52and are pressed downwardly by springs 5| arranged between the bottom ofthe bearings 55 and the foot 52. Downward movement is limited by collars54 secured on the top of the spindles 5|. Normally the foot 52 is belowthe level of the felt pad 58' as shown in Figure 5. When the gumapplyingmechanism is lowered so that the felt pad 58 engages the upper surfaceof a blank, the foot 52 also engages the blank and the spindles 6| slideupwardly in the'bearings 55, the springs 53 being compressed. As thegum-applying mechanism rises, the felt pad 58 willleave the surface ofthe blank but the foot will be held down against the blank by thepressure of the springs 53 and will not startto rise until the tops ofthe bearings 50 have engaged the collars 54. This will not occur untilthe pad 58 is clear of the blank. 9 The foot 52, thus serves to hold theblank down on the table until the pad 58 has been com- Ipletelyseparated from the blank so that the blank will not be liftedwith the pad.

The next movement of the turntable brings the blank to the applyingstation in which it is located beneath one of the formers Ill. The blankis then lifted into engagement with the former by means of a member 45which, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, has two semi-circular arms. Themember 45 is supported on the sliding member 12 which slides between twoguides I3, 14. A pin 15 is secured to the member 12 by means of nuts I1and is connected by a link 83 to the end 52 of bell crank lever I8. Thisbell crank lever is pivot- 7 ed about a spindle 19 supported in suitablebearings and carries aroller 84 engaging'a cam groove 85 in a cam 85secured to the shaft 29. The cam 85, through the connections justtraced, raises the member 45 so as to lift the blank against the former.Owing to the shap'e'of the member 45, the blank is partly wrapped aroundthe former.

Suitable mechanism (not shown) retains the aces-arc blank in positionafter which the member 46 is lowered again. Further mechanism (notshown) is provided for completing the wrapping of the.

blank around the former. This mechanism forms no part of the presentinvention-and will not be described.

The member 46 rises through an opening 41 in the floor of the tray. Aguard ring 48 surrounds the table and is supported on suitable bearings49.

We claim:

1. In or for mechanism for making truncated conical tubes,- conveyingmechanism comprising a turntable having on its upper surface a pair ofguides that converge towards the centre of the table, means for rotatingthe turntable intermittently to pause with the guides located at areceiving station, a locating station and an applying stationsuccessively and means at the locating station operable automatically tomove a blank supported on the table between the guides inwardly oi thetable.

2. In or for mechanism for making truncated conical'tubes, conveyingmechanism comprising a turntable having a plurality oi pairs of guidesof which the guides forming a pair converge towards the centre of thetable, means for rotating the turntable intermittently through an angleequal to the angular spacing of the guides and to pause with a pair oiguides located at a receiving 30 station. a pair located at a locatingstation and a pair located at an applying station and means at thelocating station operable automatically to move a blank supported on thetable-between the guides inwardly oi the'table.

3. In or for mechanism for makingtruncated conical tubes, conveyingmechanism comprising a turntable having a plurality oi equally spacedshallow trays formed in its upper surface. each of which trays has apair of sides converging towards the center or the turntable, means forrotating the turntable through an angle equal to the angular spacing ofthe trays to bring each tray inturn to a receiving station, a locatingstation, and an applying sta'tion successively, and means at thelocating-station operable automatically, while the table is at rest, tomove a blank supported in the tray at that station towards the centre01' the table.

4. In or for mechanism for making truncated conical tubes, conveyingmechanism comprising a turntable having a pair of guides that convergetowards the centre or the table on its upper surface, means ior rotatingthe turntable intermittently to pause with the guides located at areceiving station, a locating station and an applying stationsuccessively and a locating member mounted at the locating station tomove in a plane that is more or less radial to the turntable to engage ablank supported on the turntable between the guides and move it towardsthe centre of the turntable, and means for automatically moving thelocating member towards horizontal turntable having a plurality ofequally spaced shallow recesses on its upper surface each of whichrecesses has two sides that converge toward the centre of the turntable,means for rotating the turntable intermittently through an angle equalto the angular spacing of the recesses so that each recess is movedsuccessively to a receiving station, a locating station and an applyingstation a locating member mounted at the locating station to rock in aplanethat is substantially vertical and radial to the turntable from aposition in which it .is clear oi a blank supported in the recess at thelocating station to a position in which it engages this blank andpresses it against the converging sides 01' the recess, means biasingthe member to its second position and means for positively moving themember to its first position while the turntable is moving which meansis operable'while the:

turntable is stationary to permit the member to move to its secondposition.

6. Conveying mechanism according to claim 5, comprising a gum-applyingmember movable vertically from a position clear of the table to aposition in which it rests upon a blank supported in a recess at thelocating station, means biasin the gum-applying member to its secondposition and means operable automatically to raise the gum-applyingmember while the turntable is moving but to permit the gum-applyingmember to descend on to a blank after the locating memlgerniias movedtowards the turntable to locate the la a . 7. In or for mechanism formaking truncated conical tubes, conveying mechanism comprising aturntable, a pair of guides carried on the upper surface of theturntable and converging towards the centre of the table, means forrotating the turntable intermittently so that it pauses with the guideslocated successively at a receiving station, a locatingstation and anapplying s'tation, locating means at the locating station operableautomatically,'when the guides are at the locating station, to move ablank supported on the table between the guides inwardly of the table, agumapplying member mounted at the locating'sta- -tion above the tablefor vertical movement,

means for reciprocating said member towards and away from the tablewhich means is operable automatically after the locating means haveoperated to permit the gum-applying means to descend into engagementwith a blank supported on the table at the locating station and then toI raise the said means clear of the table before the latter again moves.and a common driving member for the locating means and the means forreciprocating the gum-applying member.

8. Conveying means according to claim '7, comprising a foot, a lostmotion connection by which the root is mounted to move with thegum-applying member with provision ior limited vertical movementrelative thereto and a spring biasing the said foot relatively to thegum-applying DENNIS wool); swamp GERMAN ROBE.

means into a position in which it is located below said means.

